Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim will open for the season on Friday, May 15. All park services, including the Visitor Center and campground, will open, as well as concessionaire services such as Grand Canyon Lodge. The Cape Royal and Point Imperial roads will also open.

Grand Canyon National Park joins parks, programs and partners across the country to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com. Launched March 30 by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, Find Your Park is a public awareness and education campaign celebrating the milestone centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and setting the stage for its second century of service.

Starting Saturday, April 4, 2015, Grand Canyon National Park will host its second annual Desert View Cultural Demonstration Series. This series provides park visitors the opportunity to interact with members of Grand Canyon National Park's 11 traditionally associated tribes and for the artisans to share their history and traditional crafts. Demonstrations will occur regularly during the spring and summer at the Desert View Watchtower. Join jewelers, silversmiths, weavers, potters, and more as they share their culture, crafts, and stories.

Two massive developments have been proposed that would forever change the character of Grand Canyon. One is in the gateway village of Tusayan, just south of the South Rim, and the other is near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon. While neither development would be in the national park, both would have significant impacts on the Grand Canyon.

Here's why the North Rim is closed right now! Arizona 67, the highway from Jacobs Lake to North Rim Village, will open May 15. In the meantime, you can ski or snowshoe the 45 miles to the rim. It's not a trip for everyone, but if you're an experienced backcountry snowshoer or skier and are comfortable camping in weather as cold as -30F and can deal with storms that can drop several feet of snow, then it's one of the finest backcountry experiences anywhere. (You need a backcountry camping permit in the park, but not in the national forest.)

On February 26, 1919, Congress established Grand Canyon National Park, effectively endorsing the actions of Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Teddy Roosevelt, who between them created Grand Canyon Forest Reserve, Grand Canyon Game Reserve, and Grand Canyon National Monument. In 1973, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater introduced a bill that greatly expanded Grand Canyon National Park, so that the present park includes all of the Grand Canyon not within the Hualapai, Havasupai, and Navajo Indian Reservations.

Grand Canyon National Park will be joining national park units across the country in honor of Presidents Day with fee-free entry into the park on Saturday, February 14, 2015 through Monday, February 16, 2015.

Grand Canyon National Park will be joining national park units across the country in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with fee-free entry into the park on Monday, January 19, 2015.

Park visitors are reminded that fee-free designation applies to entrance fees, commercial tour entrance fees, and transportation entrance fees only and does not affect fees for camping, reservations, guided tours, or use of concessions. Park entrance stations will have the Interagency Senior and Annual Passes available for those who wish to purchase them.

In honor of those that serve and have served in the United States military, national park units around the country, including Grand Canyon National Park, will be offering everyone fee-free entry on Tuesday, November 11.

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Whether your interest in the Grand Canyon lies in a quick look from a few of the rim viewpoints, a week-long whitewater trip on the Colorado River, a stay in a lodge on the very edge of the canyon, a leisurely walk along a rim trail, camping in the tall pines of the rim forest, or a multi-day trek into the canyon, this website is for you.

Exploring Grand Canyon is a non-commercial website whose only financial support comes from sales of books, maps, and videos from the Resources page. It is dedicated to providing useful information for all visitors to the Grand Canyon and is based on my more than forty years experience exploring the Canyon and sharing that knowledge through writing and photography.

Special thanks to my friends and fellow Grand Canyon explorers who have provided invaluable help and whose work has made this website a true team effort.

Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information on this site, by using this website you take full responsibility for your own safety and recognize that outdoor activities may be hazardous. Exploring Grand Canyon is not affiliated with any government agency, business, or Indian tribe.